universality
universality — noun
1. The property of being true, valid, or relevant in every place, to every person,
The property of being true, valid, or relevant in every place, to every person, or across all groups — for example, the universality of certain human emotions such as happiness or grief across different cultures.
Élise was struck by the universality of the greeting customs she observed across three continents.
universality of + noun phrase describing a shared practice
Kofi observed the universality of basic human needs while working in refugee camps in Jordan and farming villages in Peru.
universality of + noun phrase for cross-cultural observation
Yan found universality in how villages in Kenya, Brazil, and Nepal all protect their children from harm.
At the festival in Osaka, the universality of rhythm drew Japanese, Brazilian, and Ghanaian drummers into a shared performance.
Adina questioned the universality of the survey results because the sample only included one region.
- ubiquity
emphasises being found everywhere at once; narrower than universality because it focuses on presence rather than relevance or validity
- pervasiveness
stresses gradual spread through every part of something; often has a neutral or negative tone
- commonness
less formal and less abstract; simply means something is widespread without the philosophical weight of universality
- particularity
the quality of being limited to one specific case, place, or group
文法句型
universality + of + [noun phrase]
用法筆記
Often paired with a prepositional phrase starting with of to name the quality or feature that is widespread. Common in academic writing about culture, psychology, ethics, and human rights. Distinguish from sense 2: sense 1 is about geographic or cultural pervasiveness, whereas sense 2 is about complete coverage within a defined category.
常見錯誤
2. The quality of covering every possible member, instance, situation, or applicati
The quality of covering every possible member, instance, situation, or application within a particular category, system, or rule — for example, the universality of a return policy that applies to every item in every store.
The new safety regulation has universality across all departments, from the warehouse to the front office.
universality across + noun phrase indicating scope
Heloísa questioned the theory's universality after finding three cases it could not explain.
The universality of the company's refund policy means customers can return items at any branch worldwide.
Chidi valued the platform's universality because it worked on every operating system his team used.
Universality of access lets every São Paulo resident borrow books at any public library.
- comprehensiveness
focuses on thorough inclusion of all parts; slightly more concrete and common in everyday formal writing
- all-inclusiveness
more informal; stresses that nothing or nobody is left out
- exhaustiveness
implies complete coverage, often in analysis or investigation; can sound technical
- specificity
the quality of being limited to a particular case, leaving out other instances
- selectivity
the practice of choosing only some cases, not all
文法句型
universality + of + [noun phrase]
用法筆記
Frequent in formal, technical, and policy contexts — especially when discussing rules, systems, theories, or policies that claim to cover all cases without exception. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 2 is about exhaustive coverage within a defined class, not about being found across different cultures or places.